Ohio

OHIO. The name of one of the new states of the United States of America. It
was admitted into the Union by virtue of the act of congress, entitled "An
act to enable the people of the eastern division of the territory north-west
of the river Ohio, to form a constitution and state government, and for the
admission of such state into the Union, on an equal footing with the
original states, and for other purposes," approved, May 30, 1802, 2 Story's
L. U. S. 869; by which it is enacted,
Sec. 1. That the inhabitants of the eastern division of the territory
north-west of the river Ohio, be, and they are hereby authorized to form for
themselves a constitution and state government, and to assume such name as
they shall deem proper; and the said state, when formed, shall be admitted
into the Union, upon the same footing with the original states, in all
respects whatever.
2.-Sec. 2. That the said state shall consist of all the territory
included within the following boundaries, to wit: Bounded on the east by the
Pennsylvania line, on the south by the Ohio river, to the month of the Great
Miami river, on the west by the line drawn due north from the mouth of the
Great Miami aforesaid, and on the north by an east and west line dawn
through the southerly extreme of lake Michigan, running east, after
intersecting the due north line aforesaid, from the mouth of the Great Miami
until it shall intersect lake Erie, or the territorial line, and thence,
with the same, through lake Erie, to the Pennsylvania line aforesaid:
Provided, That congress shall be at liberty, at any time hereafter, either
to attach all the territory lying east of the line to be drawn due north
from the mouth of the Miami aforesaid to the territorial line, and north of
an east and west line drawn through the southerly extreme of lake Michigan,
running east as aforesaid to lake Eric, to the aforesaid state, or dispose
of it otherwise, in conformity to the fifth Article of compact between the
original states and the people and states to be formed are the territory
north-west of the river Ohio.
3. By virtue of the authority given them by the act of congress, the
people of the eastern division of said territory met in convention at
Chillicothe; on Monday, the, first day of November, 1802, by which they did
ordain and establish the constitution and form of government, and did
mutually agree with each other to form themselves into a free and
independent state, by the name of The State of Ohio. This constitution has
been superseded by the present one, which was adopted in 1851. The powers of
the government are separated into three distinct branches, the legislative,
the executive, and the judicial.
4.-1st. By article 2, the legislative department is constituted as
follows:
5.-Sec. 1. The legislative power of this state shall be vested in a
general assembly, which shall consist of a senate, and house of
representatives.
6.-Sec. 2. Senators and representatives shall be elected biennially,
by the electors in the respective counties or districts, on the second
Tuesday of October; their term of office shall commence on the first, day of
January next thereafter, and continue two years.
7.-Sec. 3. Senators and representatives shall have resided in their
respective counties, or districts, one year next preceding their election,
unless they shall have been absent on the public business of the United
States, or of this state.
8.-Sec. 4. No person holding office under the authority of the United
States, or any lucrative office under the authority of this state, shall be
eligible to, or have a seat in, the general assembly; but this provision
shall not extend to township officers, justices of the peace, notaries
public, or officers of the militia.
9.-Sec. 5. No person hereafter convicted of an embezzlement of the
public funds, shall hold any office in this state; nor shall any person,
holding public money for disbursement, or otherwise, have a seat in the
general assembly, until, he shall have accounted for, and paid such money
into the treasury.
10.-Sec. 6. All regular sessions of the general assembly shall
commence on the first Monday of January, biennially. The first session,
under this constitution, shall commence on the first Monday of January, one
thousand eight hundred and fifty-two.
11.-Sec. 7. The style of the laws of this state, shall be, "Be it
enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio."
12.-Sec. 8. The apportionment of this state for members of the general
assembly, shall be made every ten years, after the year one thousand eight
hundred and fifty-one, in the following manner: The whole population of the
state, as ascertained by the federal census, or in such other mode as the
general assembly may direct, shall be divided by the number: one hundred,:
and the quotient shall be the ratio of representation in the house of
representatives for ten years next succeeding such apportionment.
13.-Sec. 9. Every county, having a population equal to one-half of
said ratio, shall be entitled to one representative; every county,
containing said ratio, and three-fourths over, shall be entitled to two
representatives; every county, containing three times said ratio, shall be
entitled to three representatives: and so on, requiring after the first two,
an entire ratio for each additional representative.
14.-Sec. 10. When any county shall have a fraction above the ratio, so
large, that being multiplied by five, the result will be equal to one or
more ratios, additional representatives shall be apportioned for such
ratios, among the several sessions of the decennial period, in the following
manner: If there be only one ratio, a representative shall be allotted to
the fifth session of the decennial period; if there are two ratios, a
representative shall be allotted to the fourth and third sessions,
respectively if three, to the third, second, and first sessions,
respectively; if four, to the fourth, third, second, and first sessions,
respectively.
15.-Sec. 11. Any county, forming with another county or counties, a
representative district, during one decennial period, if it have acquired
sufficient population at the next decennial period; shall be entitled to a
separate representation, if there shall be left, in the district from which
it shall have been separated, or population sufficient for a representative;
but no such change shall be made, except at the regular decennial period for
the apportionment of representatives.
16.-Sec. 12. If, in fixing any subsequent ratio, a county, previously
entitled to a separate representation, shall have less than the number
required by the new ratio for a representative, such county shall be
attached to the county adjoining it; having the least number of inhabitants;
and the representation of the district, so formed, shall be determined as
herein provided.
17.-Sec. 13. The ratio for a senator shall, forever hereafter, be
ascertained, by dividing the whole population of the state by the number
thirty-five.
18.-Sec. 14. The same rule shall be applied, in apportioning the
fractions of senatorial districts, and in annexing districts, which may
hereafter have less than three-fourths of a senatorial ratio, as are applied
to representative districts.
19.-Sec. 15. Any county forming part of a senatorial district, having
acquired a population equal to a full senatorial ratio, shall be made a
separate senatorial district, at any regular decennial apportionment, if a
full senatorial ratio shall be left in the district from which it shall be
taken.
20.-Sec. 16. For the first ten years, after the year one thousand
eight hundred and fifty-one, the apportionment of representatives shall be
as provided, in the schedule, and no change shall ever be made in the
principles of representation, as herein established, or in the senatorial
districts, except as above provided. All territory, belonging to a county at
the time of any apportionment, shall, as to the right of representation and
suffrage, remain an integral part thereof, during the decennial period.
21.-Sec. 17. The governor, auditor, and secretary of state, or any two
of them, shall, at least six months prior to the October election, in the
year one thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, and, at each decennial period
thereafter, ascertain and determine the ratio of representation, according
to the decennial census, the number of representatives and senators each
county or district shall be entitled to elect, and for what years, within
the next ensuing ten years, and the governor shall cause the same to be
published, in such manner as shall be directed by law.
22.- Sec. 18. Every white male citizen of the United States, of the age
of twenty-one years, who shall have been a resident of the state one year
next preceding the election and of the county, township, or ward, in which
he resides, such time as may be provided by law, shall have the
qualifications of an elector, and be entitled to vote at all elections.
23.-Sec. 19. No person shall be elected or appointed to any office in
this state, unless he possess, the qualifications of an elector.
24.-3d. By article 3, the executive department is constituted as
follows:
25.-Sec. 1. The executive department shall consist of a governor,
lieutenant governor, secretary of state, auditor, treasurer, and an attorney
general, who shall be chosen by the electors of the state, on the second
Tuesday of October, and at the places of voting for members of the general
assembly.
26.-Sec. 2. The governor, lieutenant governor, Secretary of State,
treasurer, and attorney general, shall hold their offices for two years; and
the auditor for four years. Their terms of office shall commence on the
second Monday of January next after their election, and continue until their
successors are elected and qualified.
27.-Sec. 3. The returns of every election for the officers, named in
the foregoing section, shall be sealed up and transmitted to the seat of
government, by the returning officers, directed to the resident of the
senate, who, during the first week of the session, shall open and publish
them, and declare the result, in the presence of a majority of the members
of each house of the general assembly. The person having the highest number
of votes shall be declared duly elected; but if any two or more shall be
highest, and equal in votes, for the same office, one of them shall be
chosen, by the joint vote of both houses.
28.-Sec. 4. Should there be no session of the general assembly in
January next after an election for any of the officers aforesaid, the
returns of such election shall be made to the secretary of state, and
opened, and the result declared by the governor, in such manner as may be
provided by law.
29.-Sec. 5. The supreme executive power of this state shall be vested
in the governor.
30.-Sec. 6. He may require information, in writing, from the officers
in the executive department, upon any subject relating to the duties of
their respective office's; and shall see that the laws are faithfully
executed.
31.-Sec. 7. He shall communicate at every session, by message, to the
general assembly, the condition of the state, and recommend such measures as
he shall deem expedient.
32.-Sec. 8. He may, on extraordinary occasions, convene the general
assembly by proclamation, and shall state to both houses, when assembled,
the purpose for which they have been convened.
33.-Sec. 9. In case of disagreement between the two houses, in respect
to the time of adjournment, he shall have power to adjourn the general
assembly to such time as he may think proper, but not beyond the regular
meetings thereof.
34.-Sec. 10. He shall be commander-in-chief of the military and naval
forces of the state, except when they shall be called into the service of
the United States.
35.-Sec. 11. He shall have power, after conviction, to grant
reprieves, commutations, and pardons, for all crimes and offences, except
treason and cases of impeachment, upon such conditions as he may think
proper; subject, however, to such regulations, as to the manner of applying
for pardons, as may be prescribed by Upon conviction for treason, he may
suspend the execution of the sentence, and report the case to the general
assembly, at its next meeting, when the general assembly shall either
pardon, commute the sentence, direct its execution, or grant a further
reprieve. He shall communicate to the general assembly, at every regular
session, each case of reprieve, commutation, or pardon granted, stating the
name and crime of the convict, the sentence, its date, and the date of the
commutation, pardon, or reprieve, with his reasons therefor.
36.-Sec. 12. There shall be a seal of the state, which shall be kept
by the governor and used by him officially; and shall be called "The Great
Seal of the State of Ohio."
37.-Sec. 13. All grants and commissions shall be issued in the name,
and by the authority, of the State of Ohio; sealed with the great seal
signed, by the governor, and countersigned by the secretary of state.
38.-Sec. 14. No member of congress, or other person holding office
under the authority of this state, or of the United States, shall execute
the office of governor, except as herein provided.
39.-Sec. 15. In case of the death, impeachment, resignation, removal,
or other disability of the governor, the powers and duties of the office,
for the residue of the term, or until he shall be acquitted, or the
disability removed, shall devolve upon the lieutenant governor.
40.-Sec. 16. The lieutenant governor shall be president of the senate,
but shall vote only when the, senate is equally divided; and in case of him
absence, or impeachment, or when he shall exercise the office of governor,
the senate shall choose a president pro tempore.
41.-Sec. 17. If the lieutenant governor, while executing the office of
governor, shall be impeached, displaced, resign or die, or otherwise become
incapable of performing the duties of the office, the president of the
senate shall act as governor, until the vacancy is filled, or the disability
removed; and if the president of the senate, for any of the above causes,
shall be rendered incapable of performing the duties pertaining to the
office of governor, the same shall devolve upon the speaker of the house of
representatives.
42.-Sec. 18. Should the office of auditor, treasurer, secretary, or
attorney general, become vacant for any of the causes specified in the
fifteenth section of this article, the governor shall fill the vacancy until
the disability is removed, or a successor elected and qualified. Every such
vacancy shall be filled by election, at the first general election that
occurs, more than thirty days after it shall have happened; and the person
chosen shall hold the office for the full term fixed in the second section
of this article.
43.-Sec. 19. The officers mentioned in this article, shall, at stated
times, receive for their services, a compensation to be established by law,
which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the period for which
they shall have been elected.
44.-Sec. 20. The officers of the executive department, and of the
public state institutions, shall, at least five days preceding each regular
session of the general assembly, severally report to the governor, who shall
transmit such reports, with his message, to the general assembly.
45.-4th. By article 4, the judicial department is constituted as
follows:
46.-Sec. 1. The judicial power of the state shall be vested, in a supreme
court, in district courts, courts of common pleas, courts of probate,
justices of the peace, and in such other courts, inferior to the supreme
court, in one or more counties, as the general assembly, may from time to
time establish.
47.-Sec. 2. The supreme court shall consist of five judges, a majority
of whom shall be necessary to form a quorum, or to pronounce a decision. It
shall have original jurisdiction in quo warranto, mandamus, habeas corpus,
and procedendo and such appellate jurisdiction as may be provided by law. It
shall hold at least one term in each year, at the seat of government, and
such other terms, at the seat of government, or elsewhere, as may be
provided by law. The judges of the supreme court shall be elected by the
electors of the state at large.
48.-Sec. 3. The state shall be divided into nine common pleas
districts, of which the county of Hamilton shall constitute one, of compact
territory, and bounded by county lines; and each of said districts,
consisting of three or more counties, shall be subdivided into three parts,
of compact territory, bounded by county lines, and as nearly equal, in
population as practicable; in each of which, one judge of the court of
common pleas for said district, and residing therein, shall be elected by
the electors of said subdivision. Courts of common pleas shall be held, by
one or more of these judges, in every county in the district, as often as
may be provided by law; and more than one court, or sitting thereof, may be
held at the same time in each district.
49.-Sec. 4. The jurisdiction of the courts of common pleas, and of
the judges thereof, shall be fixed by law.
50.-Sec. 5. District courts shall be composed of the judges of the
court of common pleas of the respective districts, and one of the judges of
the supreme court, any three of whom shall be a quorum, and shall be held in
each county therein, at least once in each year; but, if it shall be found
inexpedient to hold such court annually, in each county, of any district,
the general assembly may, for such district, provide that said court shall
hold at least three annual sessions therein, in not less than three places:
Provided, that the general assembly may, by law, authorize the judges of
each district to fix the times of holding the courts therein.
51.-Sec. 6. The district court shall have like original jurisdiction
with the supreme court, and such appellate jurisdiction as may be provided
by law.
52.-Sec. 7. There shall be established in each county, a probate
court, which shall be a court of record, open at all times, and holden by
one judge, elected by the voters of the county, who shall hold his office
for the term of three years, and shall receive such compensation, payable
out of the county treasury, or by fees, or both; as shall be provided by
law.
53.-Sec. 8. The probate court shall have jurisdiction in probate and
testamentary matters, the appointment of administrators and guardians, the
settlement of the accounts of executors, administrators and guardians, and
such jurisdiction in habeas corpus, the issuing of marriage licenses, and
for the sale of land by executors, administrators and guardians, and such
other jurisdiction, in any county, or counties, as may be provided by law.
54.-Sec. 9. A competent number of justices of the peace shall be
elected, by the electors, in each township in the several counties. Their
term, of office shall be three years, and their powers and duties shall be
regulated by law.
55.-Sec. 10. All judges, other than those provided for in this
constitution, shall be elected by the electors of the judicial district for
which they may be created, but not for a longer term of office than five
years.
56.-Sec. 11. The judges of the supreme court shall, immediately after
the first election under this constitution, be classified by lot, so that
one shall hold for the term of one year, one for two years, one for three
years, one for four years, and one for five years; and, at all subsequent
elections, the term of each of said judges shall be for five years.
57.-Sec. 12. The judges of the courts of common pleas shall, while in
office, reside in the district for which they, are elected; and their term
of office shall be for five years.
58.-Sec. 13. In case the office of any judge shall become vacant
before the expiration of the regular term for which he was elected, the
vacancy shall be filled by appointment by the governor, until a successor is
elected and qualified; and such successor shall be elected for the unexpired
term, at the first annual election that occurs more than thirty, days after
the vacancy shall have happened.
59.-Sec. 14. The judges of the supreme court, and of the court of
common pleas shall, at stated times, receive for their services, such
compensation as may be provided by law, which shall not be diminished or
increased, during their term of office; but they shall receive no fees or
perquisites, nor hold any other office of profit or trust, under the
authority of this state, or the United States. All votes for either of them,
for any elective office, except a judicial office, under the authority of
this state, given by the general assembly, or the people, shall be void.
60.-Sec. 15. The general assembly may increase or diminish the number
of the judges of the supreme court, the number of the districts of the court
of common pleas, the number of judges in any district; change the districts,
or the subdivisions thereof, or establish other courts, whenever two-thirds
of the members elected to each house shall concur therein; but no such
change, addition, or diminution, shall vacate the office of any judge.
61.-Sec. 16. There shall be elected in each county by the electors
thereof, one clerk of the court of common pleas, who shall hold his office
for the term of three years, and until his successor shall be elected and
qualified. He shall, by virtue of his office, be clerk of all other courts
of record held therein; but the general assembly may provide by law, for the
election of a clerk, with a like term of office, for each or any other of
the courts of record, and may authorize the judge of the probate court to
perform the duties of clerk for his court, under such regulations as may be
directed by law. Clerks of courts shall be removable for such cause, and in
such manner, as shall be prescribed by law.
62.-Sec. 17. Judges may be removed from office, by concurrent
resolution of both houses of the general assembly, if two-thirds of the
members elected to each house concur therein; but no such removal shall be
made, except upon complaint, the substance of which shall be entered on the
journal, nor until the party charged shall have had notice thereof, and an
opportunity to be heard.
63.-Sec. 18. The several judges of the supreme court, of the common
pleas, and of such other courts as may be created, shall, respectively, have
and exercise such power and jurisdiction, at chambers, or otherwise as may
be directed by law.
64.-Sec. 19. The general assembly may establish courts of
conciliation, and prescribe their powers and duties; but such courts shall
not render final judgment in any case, except upon submission, by the
parties of the matter in dispute, and their agreement to abide such
judgment.
65.-Sec. 20. The style of all process shall be, "The State of Ohio;"
all prosecutions shall be carried on in the name and by the authority of the
state of Ohio; and all indictments shall conclude, "against the peace and
dignity of the state of Ohio."

All content on this website, including dictionary, thesaurus, literature, geography, and other reference data is for informational purposes only. This information should not be considered complete, up to date, and is not intended to be used in place of a visit, consultation, or advice of a legal, medical, or any other professional.